


Scars of the Heart

by katzaren



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Male Character, Coming Out, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Focuses on scenes between canon content, LIam's POV, M/M, Masturbation, Mild Sexual Content, POV Alternating, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Theo's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-01-10 10:52:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12297714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katzaren/pseuds/katzaren
Summary: When Liam rides into the Wild Hunt, Theo's soulmark reveals Liam's name in white scars. Theo thought soulmates were stupid before, but he’s in love with the idea of Liam being his soulmate. First step, get Hayden out of the picture. Second step, get Liam to believe in soulmates. Next step, romance? All while a supernatural vs. hunters war is going on. What can go wrong?ORThe soulmate AU where Liam and Theo have soulmarks that reveal each other’s names once their bond is strong enough or one of them dies, set during the events of 6A finale and 6B.





	1. Chapter 1

To Theo, a soulmate was an inconvenience—a weakness. That was why he’d killed Tracy as soon as she’d starting acting intimate with him. But his soulmark hadn’t turned white. Which meant his soulmate was still out there.

The gray bar across his wrist would darken and darken until it turned pure black, then the top layer of the soulmark would disappear and reveal the name underneath. How fast it happened depended on how much time you spent with your soulmate, and Theo’s was developing excruciatingly slow.

Not that it mattered, anyhow. Theo didn’t want a soulmate. Whoever the unlucky fool was would live their life alone, because there was no way he would ever be romantically involved with anyone.

He believed this firmly. At least until the day his soulmark revealed the name of his soulmate.

Theo definitely wasn’t thinking about soulmates as he defended the hospital from ghost riders. All he was thinking about was protecting Liam, who he had come to think of as a friend, no matter how much they didn’t get along. He’d stuck Liam in the elevator so that he could act as bait instead.

His survival instincts were confused. His heart felt like he was doing the right thing, but his brain was screaming at him to run away while he still could. He didn’t need this pack—not Scott, not Malia, not Lydia, not Hayden, and certainly not Liam.

He should have left right after Liam broke the sword that could put him back in the ground. Nothing tied him to Beacon Hills. He had spent seven years away from this cursed place, so he wasn’t sure why he felt like he had any loyalty to the town. He didn’t, not really. But apparently, he felt something for Scott’s pack.

Guilt, maybe. Regret? He actually felt bad for what he’d put the pack through—the manipulation, the killing, betraying Malia. So maybe that was it. A desire to redeem himself, to right the wrongs he had done to them.

It was stupid, really, but he couldn’t shake it. Liam had brought him back, and he couldn’t help but want to stay here. So, he fought the ghost riders, he protected Liam.

And when Liam said he was going to ride a horse into the Wild Hunt, Theo got angry because he’d spent all this time trying to protect Liam. What if Liam never came back?

But he knew better than to argue with Liam. The boy had a strong will, something Theo had always admired in him. It was hard to believe that less than a year ago, he’d been planning to kill Liam so he could take Scott’s power. He was so glad that his plan failed.

A neigh sounded, and Liam galloped away on the ghost rider’s horse. Theo forced himself to focus on the task at hand, his role in all this mess. Ghost riders still swarmed the school. If he could keep them distracted, then hopefully Liam would be able to save those people trapped in the Wild Hunt from the other end.

Theo was running around the school, looking for more ghost riders to destroy, when pain shot through his right arm and made him fall to his knees on the hard concrete. He gripped his wrist, trying to cover the pain, hoping that somehow touching it would make it all go away, but it didn’t. It felt as if someone were carving lines into his skin, and his rapid healing didn’t seem to be working.

“Nooo,” Theo wailed. “I can’t die here. Not now.”

Panting on the ground, he tried to get a grip, focus on something else. Anything else. But the pain spread from his arm to his whole body, resonating deep in his chest. He felt like the pain was clawing something out of him, something he needed. He was losing a part of himself.

What. The. Hell.

Theo threw back his head and howled. A stupid move. If the ghost riders found him now, he’d be useless in a fight. This crippling pain left him unable to stand, let alone fight back.

Then, slowly, the pain subsided. It didn’t disappear all the way, no. But it weakened enough for him to stand, enough for him to breathe again. His chest felt tight; he could only take short gasping breaths. The pain near his heart was the worst. What was this—some kind of heart attack?

It was dark outside. He looked at his wrist, where the pain had begun, but he couldn’t see any obvious injury. He did, however, notice the lack of a black bar, the lack of his soulmark.

Panic seized him tight, almost worse than the pain. He closed his eyes, then opened them to reveal his wolf eyes. He held out his wrist, turning it in front of him, trying to see if he’d finally done something so terrible that his soulmark had been erased.

Lines were etched into his skin. White, and difficult to make out. He turned his wrist, focused his eyes on seeing it clearly. The white lines glinted, almost pearlescent. Four letters. _L-I-A-M._

It all clicked into place, slamming him with the force of a bullet. Liam was his soulmate. He traced his thumb over the letters, wincing at the tender skin. White letters meant he wasn’t alive anymore. Had Liam really died? Or did the same thing happen when someone entered the Wild Hunt?

Theo needed to believe Liam was alive. The Wild Hunt had taken him, but he would be back. He had to.

Since when had Theo cared about Liam so much? He couldn’t pinpoint the moment it happened, not even the day or week. It had been gradual, perhaps, too imperceptible for him to notice. He’d been living at his house in their guest room ever since Liam had taken him out of the ground. No one else had been willing to take him in.

He should be surprised that Liam was his soulmate. But he was more surprised that he hadn’t noticed before. His soulmark had been forming so slowly. It had to be someone that he didn’t get along with, hadn’t spent much time with. Someone in Scott’s pack, since they were the only people he’d spent time with since he returned and that mark had been steadily darkening.

The reason the soulmark revealed the name now was because of Liam’s “erased” status. Death forced the names prematurely, and it was the cause of this pain and suffering. He only hoped that the mark would return to normal once Liam came back from the hunt— _if_ Liam came back.

For now, all Theo could do was help with the fight. Scott’s scent was easy enough to find, then he was there at the railroad tracks, acting as if he were part of the pack. Malia immediately corrected that misinformation, however. Damn her.

They won. Sort of. The ghost riders left, taking the Nazi with them, and Beacon Hills was saved from becoming a ghost town.

Theo rushed to find Liam and the others. He caught their scent and followed it to the library. First, he saw Mason, an injured Corey slumped against his side. Mason was supporting him, saying something about heading to the hospital.

Then his eyes found the one he’d been searching for. Liam. But he wasn’t alone. As much as Theo wanted to run to him and embrace him, he held back and watched as Hayden and Liam kissed each other frantically.

He turned his arm, looked at his wrist. The skin still looked scarred, but the letters had shifted from white to black. Part of him wished the mark had disappeared entirely.

But it was still there, burned into his skin, and seeing Liam and Hayden together filled Theo with a deep longing for what they had. He couldn’t give up on Liam. All he had to do was get Hayden out of the picture, then Liam would have to see that they were meant to be something.

\---

Theo had to wait until after Scott and the other seniors graduated to enact his plan. Embarrassing as it was, he had to explain to Lydia how Hayden wasn’t Liam’s soulmate, that she was pretending to be his so that he’d stay with her. Lydia, a firm believer in soulmates, went to Hayden’s house to find out if it was true. Sure enough, Hayden had a white name on her wrist: _N-O-A-H_. Presumably Noah Patrick, the part-berserker chimera that had died.

Outside Hayden’s window, Theo listened to their whole conversation. Hayden was crying, apologetic, said she thought she’d never get another soulmate since her first one died. Lydia almost seemed like she would cave in and abandon the plan, but she continued onward, her tone fierce, insistent.

“Hayden, I saw something,” Lydia said. “Something bad. If you stay in Beacon Hills, you’ll die.”

“You’re lying,” Hayden accused. “I heard your heart skip a beat.”

Lydia took a deep breath. “That’s because I didn’t tell you the whole truth. If you stay in Beacon Hills, both you and your sister will die.”

Theo listened close to Lydia’s heart. It maintained a steady beat the entire time. When had Lydia gotten so good at lying? Or was the premonition the truth?

It worked. Lydia’s words were enough to convince Hayden to leave town with her older sister. Not just temporarily. They moved away, with a promise that they’d never return. Lydia said the premonition hadn’t been a lie. They would’ve died if they’d stayed, so really, Theo had done Hayden a favor.

\---

Hayden left him. Hayden. Left. Him. Hayden left him? Liam stared at his phone in disbelief. At the break up text from Hayden. She hadn’t even done him the courtesy of telling him in person.

They loved each other. How could she just leave him? She said her sister thought they’d be safer somewhere else. It was true, but still…

Another text popped up on his phone. A message from Mason asking if he was okay. He wasn’t. But he didn’t want to talk to Mason right now. He was crying too much, and for once, he just wanted to cry. No one could see him. Theo was absorbed in a video game in the living room. As long as Liam was quiet, he should be able to cry uninterrupted.

Liam managed to cry for a full hour before he heard the TV shut off. He rushed into the bathroom, turned on the water, and hopped into the shower.

Theo poked his head in minutes later to ask if he wanted a smoothie.

Liam was grateful that the shower water obscured his tears, though he knew Theo could probably pick up on some chemosignals. Maybe that was why he was offering to make Liam a treat.

“Sounds good,” Liam said because he really did think that would help. Sugar was a good medicine for break ups, or so he’d heard.

The blender sounded in the kitchen minutes later, so Liam hurried to finish his shower. He changed into clean boxers and a T-shirt, feeling a little bit refreshed. Though, his heartbreak was far from cured. He wasn’t sure he would ever feel right again.

He found Theo leaning against the kitchen counter. Wearing sleeping pants and a long-sleeved gray shirt. And that weird bracelet he’d gotten shortly after the showdown with the Wild Hunt. It was on his right wrist, so what he was covering up was no secret.

Theo had a soulmate. It was surprising to Liam because he couldn’t imagine Theo in a romantic relationship with anyone.

But why was he hiding it? Was he ashamed of the name? Or could it mess with pack dynamics? It was no secret that Malia didn’t yet have a name on her wrist, only the greyish-black mark. Could Malia be his soulmate?

Malia still hadn’t forgiven Theo for betraying her to the Desert Wolf, so it seemed more than likely it could be her.

Liam forgot about soulmates as they drank their smoothies. His own wrist still had the grayish-black mark upon it, but he hardly noticed it most days he’d gotten so used to it.

That night Liam had trouble sleeping. He kept dreaming about Hayden, thinking she was still here, then waking up to remember that she’d left him.

It made him feel worthless, like nothing he did would ever be good enough. He couldn’t even hold on to the girl he loved, so why would anyone give him the time of day?


	2. Chapter 2

Weeks passed, each one easier than the next. The summer felt far too long. Liam wanted school to start up already. He needed a distraction, anything to get his mind off Hayden.

He refused to talk to Mason or Corey about it. In fact, he thought he could go his whole life never talking about it to anyone. But he wasn’t that strong.

He caved in one night while he and Theo were hanging out in his room. They’d just played _Call of Duty_ together, and Theo had crushed Liam. The blow to his ego made him think about Hayden again, and the words just started pouring out of him. He told him about the singular text, how they hadn’t even spoken since then, how he’d been feeling worthless lately. Theo listened calmly until Liam started crying.

Liam swiped at a tear. “I’m sorry. Gosh, I must seem so lame. It’s just, now that I’ve lost Hayden, I don’t think anyone else will like me.”

“I like you,” Theo said casually.

Liam shook his head. “I mean girls. You know, I don’t think any of them will like me like that.”

Silence stretched on while Liam studied the ceiling, using his wolf eyes to see the cracks and stains on it. Then he reverted to his normal eyes, startled for a moment by the darkness. Barely any moonlight shone through the window; the curtains danced in a light summer breeze. So much time had passed in silence that he wondered if Theo had fallen asleep. He glanced over at him and saw that Theo was studying his nails intently.

“What’s on your mind?” Liam asked.

“You.”

Liam didn’t know what to make of that. “What about me? Are you tired of hearing me whine? I’m sorry if it went on too long. It’s just nice having someone to talk to, I guess. Someone who isn’t already in a relationship with their soulmate.” Meaning Mason and Corey. Any conversation with them about love always came back to _You’ll find your soulmate one day, and it’ll be the best experience in your life._ Not at all helpful.

“You can always talk to me. Don’t worry. I’m just…confused, I guess.” Theo’s expression was contemplative, almost perplexed, as if he were trying to work out a puzzle without all the pieces.

“It’s okay, Theo. You can talk to me too. I’ll listen, I promise.” Liam nudged his shoulder and grinned at him.

Theo took a deep breath. “Okay. It’s, uh, about soulmates. Like, most people get the name they expected, or at least the gender they expected. But what if you get someone unexpected?”

“You mean what if your soulmate is a guy?” Liam asked. He could see he was right by the panic that flashed across Theo’s face. So that explained why he hid his soulmark. “Look, Theo, I don’t care if you’re gay. My best friend is gay. Corey’s gay. It’s not a big deal.”

“I’m not gay,” Theo said, sounding a bit frustrated. “At least I don’t think. I’m bi, maybe.”

“Maybe?” Liam laughed. “How can you be unsure?”

“Well, I’ve never kissed a guy, so how do I know if I will respond to guys?”

Liam shrugged. “I’m not sure if I can help you there. Maybe you should talk to Mason or Corey. I’ve only ever kissed one person, Hayden, and I’ve always been sure I’m straight.”

Theo bit his lower lip. Disappointment radiated off him.

“I’m sorry I can’t be more useful,” Liam said apologetically. “Really, I wish I could help, but I just don’t know anything about that.”

“What if we kiss?”

Liam jerked in surprise. “Us? Kiss?” He wasn’t quite sure what Theo was asking. Did he want to test out kissing a guy to see if he responded to it? That could get very awkward if he did respond and wanted more than just a kiss. “I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

“Why not? I’m just curious. Aren’t you?”

“Not really, no.”

Silence.

Liam continued, “And I don’t want to make things weird between us. We’re finally friends, and I’d like to keep it that way, yeah?”

“Please, Liam. Just a kiss. Nothing more. I promise.” Theo’s eyes reminded him of a puppy pleading for more treats.

Liam couldn’t remember when he’d started trusting Theo Raeken. It only took about a minute of staring into those pleading eyes for him to say yes. Theo’s face lit up with excitement.

They sat on the bed, facing each other, and Theo took the lead. He wrapped a hand around Liam’s neck and brought him closer, ever so gently. Liam had no idea Theo could be so gentle. But he didn’t have long to think about that. Theo’s lips touched his, and it was like fireworks exploding inside him.

When Theo pulled apart, Liam felt like he’d been zapped away from the only source of warmth in the room. He wanted that fire on his lips again; he wanted that spark. Theo started to turn away, his cheeks flushed red, embarrassment and elation radiating off him, but Liam couldn’t let him go. He grabbed Theo’s neck and jammed their lips together.

The kiss was more passionate this time. It made Liam feel alive, like he’d been drinking water all his life when he could’ve been drinking chocolate milkshakes. “Hayden never felt like this,” he admitted in between kisses.

“Tracy didn’t either,” Theo said.

“You kissed her?” Liam asked, surprised. He hadn’t noticed anything romantic between them.

“Well, she made a move on me.”

“Oh, yeah. How’d you respond?”

Theo cackled in the darkness. “I killed her.”

Liam pulled away. The spark hovered between them, not disappearing, but not bringing either of them back into the kiss. “She kissed you so you killed her? What the heck, Theo?”

Theo shook his head. “It was a weird situation, okay? I was too weak, so I took her power. Killing was just a byproduct.”

Liam raised his eyebrows, suddenly remembering who exactly Theo Raeken was. This man who he had befriended was a killer, no matter what color his wolf eyes shone.

“Look, it was a long time ago. I don’t kill people anymore, if I can avoid it. I’m certainly not after power or anything. All I want to do now is survive and be useful to Scott’s pack and protect you from danger.”

“I can protect myself,” Liam said, lifting his chin. A muscle twitched in his jaw.

Theo grinned. “I don’t doubt it. But I still want to be here for you. For all the bad things I did, I need to make it up to you and the pack.”

Liam nodded, his breathing slowly returning to normal. Theo was right. He wasn’t the same boy he’d first met, the same boy who’d split apart Scott’s pack and gotten Liam to try to kill Scott. Theo was different now, and Liam honestly believed that he wanted to redeem himself and become a powerful ally for the pack. He could forgive Theo for his past mistakes.

“So, can we move on from all that?” Theo asked.

“I think so.”

“And get back to kissing? Because I don’t know about you, but that was pretty hot.”

Liam laughed giddily. “Yeah, it kinda was. I still don’t think it necessarily means we’re bi, though. Kissing is just something that feels good, yeah?”

Theo tilted his head. “I don’t know about that. Kissing Tracy didn’t feel good.”

“Let’s try it some more before we make any conclusions.”

They leaned in to resume the kissing. Slowly, they worked their way up to the same fire and passion as before. Theo pulled his own shirt off, then Liam’s. Gently, he lowered Liam’s head onto the pillow and began kissing his neck, then his chest, then back to his mouth.

“Fuck me,” Liam said in a gasp.

Theo reached for his pants, but Liam grabbed his hand to stop him.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. More like ‘oh wow. That feels nice.’” Liam smiled apologetically.

“Oh, yeah. Of course. I wasn’t actually gonna…”

“It’s okay. Let’s get back to the kissing,” Liam said. He reached for Theo’s neck and pulled him into a long, fierce kiss.

Electricity sparked through their skin each time they made contact. It made Liam feel alive and sexy. Liam Dunbar had never before felt sexy, not even when he’d had sex with Hayden. He’d been such a fumbling idiot then, so why was this going so smoothly?

“You know,” Liam said as Theo started to kiss his neck again, “Hayden used to say that kissing felt different as a chimera than as a real werewolf. Honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference, but I do think she got better at it once she turned into a werewolf. She did this thing with her tongue that—”

“Please shut up about Hayden,” he said against Liam’s neck. “I didn’t send that bitch away just so you could go on and on about her.”

Liam punched Theo in the jaw, hard enough that Theo fell onto the floor.

“Shit, Liam. What the hell. That fucking hurt.” Theo rubbed at his jaw. “I think you broke something.”

Liam leapt off the bed and pinned Theo down like a cockroach on the ground. “What do you mean by you sent Hayden away?”

Theo’s mouth opened, then he closed it and frustration came off him in waves. “That wasn’t supposed to come out. Fuck. I just mean that Lydia had a vision and—”

“Don’t you dare try to blame it on someone else. What did you do, Theo?” Liam unsheathed his claws and dug them deep into Theo’s arms, feeling the warm blood run along his fingertips.

“It was for the best, Liam. She wasn’t your soulmate. Her soulmate was that Noah kid. She hid it from you, made you think that you two were destined, but she’s just been lying to you this whole time.”

Liam pressed his knee into Theo’s chest until Theo was gasping for air, then he said, fangs on full display, “I don’t give a damn about soulmates. They’re total bullshit. I mean, really. A mark appears on our skin and tells us who we’re supposed to be with? How stupid is that? Mason and Corey seem happy, yeah, but think about all the trouble soulmarks cause. Pedophilia. Rape that people justify with ‘but we’re soulmates.’ Soulmates dying. I told Hayden a long time ago that I didn’t care about soulmates. So I don’t believe you if you’re telling me she left because you told her she’d never make me happy since we’re not soulmates.”

“That’s not it—” Theo started.

Liam dug his nails in deeper. “Just admit it. You threatened her, told her that if she stayed you’d make her life hell. And for what? So you could get into my pants? You’re a fucking pervert, that’s what you are.”

Tears fell from Theo’s eyes. But Liam knew how good he was at faking it. A few tears wouldn’t make him forgive him. He’d been happy with Hayden, and Theo had just decided that they couldn’t be together. All for sex. Malia was right: he was a total maniac.

Liam withdrew his claws and stood. “Get out.”

“What?”

“Get out!” he shouted, pointing at the door.

Theo threw up his hands. “Okay, fine. I’ll go back to my room!”

“No,” Liam said. “Get out of the house. Don’t ever come back.”

“No, no,” Theo was saying as he scrambled to his feet. “Don’t do this to me.”

Liam pushed him in the chest, hard. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

“Do you want me to sleep in my truck? I don’t have anywhere else to go!”

“You should’ve thought about that before you sent Hayden away.”

“I did it for your own good! And for Hayden’s. Please let me finish explaining. Lydia—”

Liam shoved him. “I swear to God, Theo, if you don’t leave my house now, I _will_ fucking kill you.”

Theo looked hurt, as if Liam had already struck the deadly blow. He lifted his chin, snatched his cell phone off the bedside table, and stormed across the room to open the door. “Fine. Just don’t expect me to come crawling back to you whenever you need my help.” He slammed the door behind him.

Liam listened for the front door opening and slamming shut, then Theo’s engine starting up and fading as he drove away. The silence that followed was deafening. Liam fought hard not to cry. He was still angry, absolutely furious, but more than anything he felt the sharp sting of betrayal. He’d thought he could count on Theo, thought he could trust him. Boy had he been wrong.

Theo Raeken would always be a monster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should be posting the next four chapters over the next week or so. This will be a work around 13-14k words. Let me know what you think of it so far. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Part of Theo wanted to take his truck and drive off a cliff. Go out _Thelma and Louise_ style. But, even though he hated himself, he didn’t truly want to commit suicide. He did, however, want to get as far away from Liam’s house as possible.

Temptation pulled him towards the interstate, but he ended up pulling to the side of the road before he left Beacon Hills. He parked his truck, stripped, and transformed into a wolf. Then he ran through the woods.

Running made it harder for him to think, harder for him to feel. The sadness, the anger, the self-hatred all faded to the back of his mind. He focused on paws against dirt, prey scuttling through the leaves, the moon shining down upon the forest.

The moon didn’t judge. It shone for everyone—werewolf, werecoyote, nogitsune, wendigo. The moon didn’t care what you were or what you’d done. It was kind and forgiving. Patient and understanding.

He became jealous of the stars in the sky. How they could shine without being hurt. They were untouchable. Clouds could obscure them, but they always still shined.

Theo spent the last week of summer break sleeping in the woods in wolf form, living off the land. Before the incident with Liam, he’d been planning to go back to Beacon Hills High School and repeat his senior year. But now he couldn’t bear the thought of being that close to Liam, in classes with him day after day. With Liam hating him just like before.

It would be too painful.

He’d been stupid to send Hayden away for such a selfish reason. At least it was doing her good. She and her sister would survive. He had saved their lives, even if it wasn’t his original intention. Maybe if he explained it to Liam, he would understand. But right now, he was sure that Liam didn’t want to talk to him. He’d already sent him several texts, but he never got a response.

Liam had cut him out of his life. Cold turkey. But it was Theo who was feeling the withdrawals the strongest. Liam really had been like a drug to him. Especially once they’d finally kissed. He had no idea it would be _that_ good. How could Liam not have felt the same?

Theo craved Liam’s touch, his warmth; he even missed his fiery temper. He’d love to talk to him again, even if it was just them arguing. It was the reason he couldn’t leave Beacon Hills, despite the fact that there was nothing left for him here.

To make matters worse, everything in town reminded Theo of Liam. The grocery store they used to shop at. The pizza place, for when Liam’s mom was too tired to cook. Even the bank that they’d walked into once by accident.

 _He did not need Liam Dunbar in his life. He didn’t._ He kept telling himself that over and over, and he knew it was true. He didn’t _need_ Liam. Not everyone got to be with their soulmate. It didn’t kill anyone to be apart from their soulmate. Plenty of people found love elsewhere. Plenty of people never found love and still managed to be happy. He didn’t need love. He didn’t.

But he supposed what hurt the most was that Liam didn’t even believe in soulmates. Even if Theo showed him his name on his wrist, Liam wouldn’t come to him. He’d have to keep his soulmate’s name a secret for the rest of his life, because Liam could _never_ find out.

\---

Liam refused to talk about Theo to anyone. Mason knew that he’d kicked Theo out of the house, thanks to an unfortunate incident that occurred when Mason came over to play video games. They were walking down the hallway to Liam’s room when Mason stopped abruptly.

“Hey, let’s invite Theo too,” Mason said. He strode towards the guest room and reached for the knob. Liam grabbed Mason’s shoulder and pulled him back.

“Don’t go in there!”

Mason stared at him, puzzled.

Liam felt guilty for his outburst. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. He’s not here right now, okay?”

Mason’s eyes widened. “Is he coming back?”

Liam shrugged, averting his eyes and rubbing his arm. “He’s an asshole, so it doesn’t matter anyways.”

“Okay,” Mason said, drawing out the syllables. He didn’t pry though, thankfully sensing that Liam wasn’t ready to talk about it.

Liam tried not to think about Theo, but as he played _Call of Duty_ with Mason, he kept imagining every enemy as Theo.

_Bang. Bang. Bang. Get out of my head._

_Bang. Bang. Bang. I wish you were dead._

Frustrated, Liam chucked his controller across the room. “I don’t feel like playing anymore.” He collapsed onto his bed and stared at the ceiling.

What he was doing to Mason wasn’t cool. He shouldn’t be taking out his anger on him and acting so moody, but Liam was sick and tired of being home alone. He’d gotten so used to Theo being around that his absence made Liam feel like a piece of himself was missing.

Fuck. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He should’ve known befriending Theo would only lead to trouble. He’d been an asshole when he tried to decimate the pack, and he was still an asshole now. He hadn’t changed, not really. Liam had only hoped he did. Because he’d liked having Theo around. He’d liked having someone to play games with, someone he could tease and argue with without worrying they’d take it to heart, someone he could count on when danger descended upon Beacon Hills.

But he couldn’t have that anymore. Theo had taken Hayden away for no good reason. Maybe he did it so he could experiment with Liam. Maybe he did it just to upset Liam. It was hard to tell with someone as fucking insane as Theo Raeken.

“Crap. Liam, are you crying?” Mason asked.

Liam swiped away the tears. “It’s nothing. I’m fine. I just keep thinking about Hayden.” A lie. His thoughts were still on Theo, still on the cold betrayal that he should’ve seen coming.

Mason sighed. “Yeah, I worried it might be that. At least lacrosse practice starts up tomorrow. That’ll be a good distraction, huh? You’re so gonna be team captain this year.”

“Maybe. If I don’t screw up tomorrow.”

“Where’s the confident Liam from freshman year? When you first got to Beacon Hills, you swore you would take the spot from Scott McCall. Come on. What happened to that man?”

What happened, indeed.

Two words. Theo Raeken.

\---

Lacrosse practice did not go well.

It started out okay, but then Liam lost his focus, and the sophomores seemed out to get him. One player, Gabe maybe, kept knocking into him. It was clear that he had competition for the spot of team captain.

Mason was a great cheerleader, but only an idiot would keep cheering at this point. Liam had no chance. The only person who sucked more than him tonight was Nolan.

Then all hell broke loose.

Bloody wolves.

Dead wolves in the forest.

Why were there even regular wolves in Beacon Hills?

Then school started and rats flooded the classroom. Upon further investigation, the rats had almost killed each other in the same manner as the wolves. Liam and Mason brought the rat to the hospital, hoping Scott’s mom could take a look at it. Liam ended up trying to stop a fight and getting punched, unleashing his wolf side.

Just when Liam thought the day couldn’t get any weirder, a fucking hellhound attacked him at the high school. Parrish barely got there in time.

This was all too much. His chest burned from the hellhound’s claws as he and Mason sat in the locker room afterwards. They talked about Scott and the future, and then a long silence followed.

“So, are you ever going to talk about what happened with Theo?” Mason finally said.

The memory hit Liam like a bad dream. He sighed. “No. It doesn’t really matter. Besides, we have more pressing problems. Like the fricking hellhound and all these bloody wolves and rats. Shouldn’t we be trying to figure that out?”

Mason nodded. “We’ll figure it out, Liam, but we can’t do anything about it right now. Let’s take care of that wound, at least clean it and cover it. I know there’s a first aid kit around here somewhere.” He stood up and poked around the locker room.

Liam rubbed the skin where the claw marks were. It still felt sticky and bloody, and it burned like…well, like hellfire. He wondered how long it would take to heal. Some injuries took longer than others, particularly when they were from dangerous creatures like hellhounds.

“Found it!” Mason called and came back with the first aid kit.

They walked over to the sinks. Liam turned on the faucet and tried to splash water onto his chest.

“Here, I’ll do it,” Mason said. He grabbed a towel from the clean basket, soaked it in the water, then rubbed it onto the wounds. Then he opened the first aid kit and set to work patching him up, silent while he worked.

“He kissed me,” Liam said abruptly. He wasn’t sure why he said it because he really did _not_ want to talk about it, but with the hell of a night he’d had, he wanted to ease his mind a bit. Maybe Mason would have answers.

“Who kissed you?”

“Theo.”

Mason’s jaw dropped. “Wait. This is huge. Theo likes you?”

Liam shook his head. “No, it wasn’t like that. I think he just wanted me for sex.”

“Dude, that’s so messed up.”

“Tell me about it. He was going on about how he thought he might be bi, but he’d never kissed a guy, so he needed to kiss me to check or something.”

Mason frowned. “Are you sure he doesn’t like you? I’ve heard that excuse before from guys questioning their sexuality who were into me.”

“I’m sure. He’s just an asshole. I don’t know. Maybe he even did it to mess with me.” Liam sighed. His jaw felt tight, like his fangs and claws might display themselves again if he kept thinking about Theo.

“Maybe, but it could definitely mean something.”

“It doesn’t! I don’t care anyways. He did something unforgivable, so I’m done with him. I’m never speaking to him again.”

“What did he do?” Mason asked, sounding hesitant. Worry shrouded him like a cloud; it smelled awful, and that was saying something since they were in the boys’ locker room.

“He’s the reason Hayden left.”

Mason looked confused. “How so?”

“How do you think? He obviously threatened her into leaving. He hasn’t changed at all since last year. It’s all just been an act, okay? He thinks that he has a better chance of survival if he sticks with us. That’s the only reason he’s been acting nice.”

Mason shrugged, picking at the tape he’d used to attach the bandage. “Maybe you’re not getting the whole story. I know Theo did some terrible things and Scott _still_ doesn’t trust him, but I’m pretty sure he cares about you. He wouldn’t throw away your friendship so easily.”

“He acted like what he did didn’t matter. Like I shouldn’t be bothered by it. But how can I not be?”

“So, let me guess, you kicked him out of the house?”

Liam nodded. “I told him I’d kill him if he didn’t leave. And I think I actually meant it. He made me so angry, Mason. I don’t think I’ve been that angry before in my life.”

Mason’s eyebrows rose. “Man, you probably scared the guy shitless.”

“Good.” Liam lifted his jaw. “He deserves it.”

“Does he? Even if he did what you said—which by the way is a pretty twisted thing to do—it doesn’t mean that he hates you. To me, it sounds like he didn’t think about how it would hurt you. He just wanted Hayden out of the way. Maybe he really does like you.”

“No, that’s stupid. That guy doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body.”

“But he has a soulmate,” Mason pointed out.

Liam rolled his eyes. “Again with the soulmates? Look, just because he has a name on his wrist, doesn’t mean he’ll fall in love with that person.”

“What if he does though?”

Liam huffed. “Well, then that sucks for him because no one will _ever_ love him back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Theo and Liam didn't interact with each other at all this chapter, but I promise they will encounter each other next chapter. Look forward to seeing how they react after so long apart!


	4. Chapter 4

Ever since classes had started up at Beacon Hills High School, Theo had been sleeping in his truck instead of outside. It wasn’t much better, but at least he could sleep closer to the high school, closer to Liam. He kept hoping that someone would call him, that they would need his help again.

Scott, Lydia, and Malia had all stayed in Beacon Hills. Something was going on with dead animals, though Theo didn’t know any of the details. He stayed near enough to be able to rush in to help if they needed it, but he didn’t dare call anyone in the pack. Liam would hate him for it, and Theo was pretty sure Liam had told everyone to leave him out of their plans.

Theo knew he should find work somewhere in town, make something of his life. He was good at a lot of things, for sure. But he lacked motivation.

Maybe he was depressed. Clearly, he was mostly staying in Beacon Hills to torture himself. Just the thought that Liam was within his reach, yet untouchable, made him feel like the loneliest man in the world.

It was like his soulmate was dying all over again, the pain in his chest lingering as a constant reminder. His heart ached without Liam.

He told himself that he didn’t care. That soulmates didn’t matter anyways. That Liam had been right about them. It was just a cruel joke. Whoever decided that his soulmate would be someone who not only hated him, but didn’t believe in soulmates surely had it out for Theo. Was this the way the universe righted itself? He’d brought about his sister’s death, the only person he really loved as a child, so now that he found someone else to love, it couldn’t be requited.

How could he have fixed the Hayden situation? Should he have told Liam Lydia’s prediction right after Hayden left? That would have been better, probably. Or maybe Liam would have kicked him out then and he never would’ve gotten the chance to kiss him.

Maybe that would’ve been better—he’d never know what he was missing.

\---

After a crazy run-in with a spider crawling into his skin, Theo thought about calling Scott, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Liam still hated him. It was better to figure this out on his own. Scott and the others wouldn’t help him anyways.

Theo did his best to keep his soulmark hidden and stay out of trouble. But of course, trouble found him. Hunters were everywhere nowadays, and he had the misfortune of being captured by some. He managed to escape, but soon found himself in another prison, thanks to Sheriff Stilinski and the murdering brats he’d chosen to take under his wing.

It wasn’t fair. Nothing in Theo’s life was fair.

And now hunters were surrounding the police station. He’d been freed from the jail cell only to walk into another trap.

“It’s our job to keep them alive.”

Scott’s voice. But that wasn’t what caught his attention. It was Liam’s scent. It grabbed him like a fish on a hook. The moment he smelled it, Theo ran towards it and opened the door to the sheriff’s office. “Not mine,” he said.

Liam’s face contorted into anger the moment he saw him. Clearly pissed, he said to Scott, “do you want me to kill him?” He couldn’t even address Theo, that was how much he hated him.

Theo pulled Liam into the hallway as soon as he got the chance. “Are you really going to ignore me?” he demanded in a hushed whisper. Scott and the others were still close enough to hear them.

Liam glared at him. “Are you really going to act like nothing happened?”

“That doesn't matter right now! We have much bigger problems to deal with. There’s a swarm of hunters outside. They may be here for Jiang and Tierney, but do you really think they wouldn't hesitate to kill us too?”

Liam lifted his chin and looked away, crossing his arms. Theo could see the anger rippling through him, see it in his tight jaw, his scrunched eyes, his closed off posture. Finally, they were face-to-face after all these torturous weeks, and Liam wanted nothing to do with him.

“I know you hate me, Liam, but we have to work together if we want to survive this. You know you need me.” Theo was furious at Liam for not giving him a chance to explain, but he was willing to put that aside to save his life. Because as angry as Liam made him feel, he was still his soulmate. Theo only wished Liam would give him a chance.

“We don’t need you, Theo. _No one_ needs you.”

“You needed me with the ghost riders. You were the one who got me out of the ground, who begged Scott to let me stay, who broke the sword that could send me back. We protected each other during all that. I was the bait for you. Don’t tell me you don’t need me anymore.”

“You _might_ have a point,” Liam murmured, as if saying the words pained him. His gaze trailed off to the side, like he couldn’t stand to look at Theo any longer. “Fine. We can work together just this once. What did you have in mind?”

Theo glanced over at the sheriff’s office. Scott and others were still within hearing range. “Come on. Let’s talk somewhere else.” He pushed Liam into the bathroom, possibly a little too roughly. Angry and hurt, he had half a mind to slam Liam into the wall and start fiercely kissing him.

“Monroe’s not going to stop,” he said once he’d let go of Liam inside the bathroom.

The best Theo could do right now was try to save Liam’s life, so he tried talking some sense into him. Sense that would save his life. The hunters would kill them all if they tried to fight, and the two remaining werewolves of Satomi’s pack weren’t worth saving. Liam had to see that.

It was strange now talking with him. In the hallway, Liam had been the angrier of the two, but now he seemed calm. He sounded like a leader. Maybe he would make a good alpha one day.

Theo was the one getting frustrated. Liam thought they could save everyone, but he had to see that was impossible. They had to turn Jiang and Tierney over to the hunters; it was the only way. He had to make Liam see that saving them wouldn’t make up for the two friends he’d lost.

“Your dead friends are dead, and they’re gonna stay dead no matter what you do,” Theo spat.

Liam punched him, his anger returning in full flare. Theo couldn’t help but feel like he deserved it this time. He knew better than to talk coldly about Liam’s friends. But he’d just been so frustrated and angry with Liam that, yeah, maybe he had wanted to provoke him.

“By the way, I’m still working on my anger,” Liam said as he left.

“Good to know.” Theo stayed on the floor in the bathroom for a little while, the anger drained out of him. He ran a hand across his nose. He didn’t mind the blood. He was used to being punched. What made it difficult were the memories that came with it. That night. How he and Liam had connected in a way he’d only dreamed about, only for him to be pinned to the floor and thrown out like trash.

One little slip up. One phrase he should never have uttered aloud. Without that, he might still be living at Liam’s house. Liam might be more willing to listen to his advice about the hunters. They might be getting closer and closer, slowly developing romantic feelings for one another.

But no. He’d had to go and fuck things up before they even began.

\---

Thanks to Scott’s dad, they made it out of the crazy hunter situation unscathed. Even Jiang and Tierney made it out alive. Liam wanted to boast to Theo that it was possible to save everyone, but Theo was barely looking at him. Scott had them all gathered in the sheriff’s office to tell them the new plan. They were going to pretend like they’d left town, to get Monroe to back off for a little while. It would give them time to come up with a plan to fight back.

Scott pulled Liam aside after the others had left the office.

“What is it?” Liam asked.

Scott touched Liam’s arm. “What should we do about Theo? I still don’t trust him, but he’s helped us before, and right now we need all the help we can get. But if you don’t think he can help, we’ll turn him out again. I can tell him we don’t need him.”

Liam averted his eyes and bit his lip. It had been hard seeing Theo today. All the anger had resurfaced, and it felt like Theo had said things just to hurt him. He'd been rubbing salt into his wounds. Liam wished he had punched him more. But Scott was right. They did need the help. And even though Theo couldn’t be trusted as a friend, he could be trusted as an ally in battle.

“We should let him join us,” Liam said begrudgingly. “He’ll be a powerful asset.”

Scott nodded. “Okay, then. Well, he’s waiting for you outside, so give him the good news?” He patted Liam's shoulder and walked out the door to catch up with his dad.

Liam found Theo outside kicking rocks in the parking lot. He told him that Scott said he wanted him to continue fighting with them. He caught the scent of happiness radiating off Theo—it had been a while since he’d smelled that. “Get to the clinic early, yeah? We need to talk about some stuff one on one.”

Theo nodded, though he looked nervous. “I’ll be there.”

\---

The animal clinic was eerie when Liam arrived. Theo was already waiting inside, tapping his foot. One might think he was impatient, but from his chemosignals, Liam could tell it was just nerves.

Theo moved aside the mountain ash door so they could walk into the back. Liam led the way into the room with the animal cages, though all the cages were empty at the moment.

“So, what’s this about?” Theo asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked annoyed more than anything else, but Liam felt waves of anxiety coming from him and some other strong emotion that he couldn’t pinpoint.

“You said you could explain what happened with Hayden. Here’s your chance.” Liam folded his arms and fixed Theo with an intense stare. He wanted Theo to see that he wouldn’t tolerate lying. He needed to hear the truth from his lips. He would listen extra closely to see if he could detect any lies from Theo’s heartbeat—even if he was a master of lying.

Theo sighed, half of his anxiety disappearing on the spot. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me just yet. Tell me what really happened and tell me why.”

“Okay.” Theo nodded and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Lydia had a vision that Hayden and her sister would die if they stayed in Beacon Hills.”

Liam immediately felt like a total asshole. Why did he always, always, always assume the worst when it came to Theo Raeken? “So, you were trying to save her?”

“Yes and no. I mean, I was glad that what I did ended up saving her. But, well, I decided to try to make her leave before I knew about that. I didn’t do anything illegal like threaten her or blackmail her or anything. But I did manipulate Lydia, sort of…”

Liam bit his tongue, resisting the urge to respond with anger. He had agreed to hear Theo out, so he needed to listen to the whole story before he judged him.

“I told Lydia that Hayden’s soulmark didn’t say your name.”

“How did you know?” Liam asked. He was pretty sure that wasn’t information Hayden would volunteer to Theo willingly.

Theo hesitated. Liam could see it in his eyes—that quick flash of inner struggle, where Theo debated whether to lie or tell the truth. Theo did it so often that Liam had picked up on it. Though it was subtle and quick, he could always catch it. The problem was, he could never tell which decision Theo made. To tell the truth or to lie.

“How did you know?” Liam repeated.

Theo itched at the bracelet around his wrist. Then he coolly ran a hand through his hair and said, “Because I was there when her soulmate died. Noah. The chimera who was part-berserker. The one who almost killed Stilinski. I saw her collapse. She screamed in pain, said her wrist felt like someone was twisting knives into it. Then her whole body filled with pain. It lasted ten, twenty minutes maybe. And when I checked her wrist to see what had caused her pain, I saw her soulmark. His name was carved in white letters on her skin.”

Liam gulped and then nodded. “I believe you.” There was too much detail for that to be a lie. Liam had witnessed the same thing happening himself, but to Mason. “Whenever Mr. Douglass killed that ghost rider and stole his whip, he found Corey and used the whip on him. You and Scott had already gone on ahead when it happened…”

“Mason?”

Liam nodded. “I found out Hayden wasn’t my soulmate whenever she got taken by the ghost riders. I felt no pain, and no name appeared on my wrist. Like I said, I didn’t care about that. So, I guess my question is, why do you?”

Tugging his bracelet, Theo made a point to look everywhere but at Liam. “I don’t know. Is it really so foolish to believe in soulmates? Werewolves are real. Ghost riders are real. All these myths and legends are real, so is it that much of a stretch to believe that soulmates are real? The names appear. You can’t tell me it’s for no reason.”

“But no one knows for sure if the names mean a romantic connection. It could be the name of someone who’s meant to be your best friend, or your enemy even. We all just assume it’s romantic because it sounds like a fairytale and people want to believe in fairytales. But soulmates still get divorced. Some people die before they meet their soulmates, or their soulmate dies first. How is that a soulmate if they never meet?”

Theo looked like he didn’t have an answer. “Maybe you’re right,” he said at last. “The idea of soulmates forces us to make connections with people who might not be good for us. But they come together and stay together because they’re soulmates.”

Liam nodded. “That’s how it was for Scott with his first girlfriend, Allison. They were soulmates, and they tried to be together even though she came from a family of hunters. Eventually, they split apart. Not because of her family, though. They just realized they didn’t want to be together romantically. But he did love her. When she died, her name turned white on his wrist. I think for them, if soulmates are real, those two were platonic soulmates, meant to form a bond but not meant to form a romantic connection.”

“What about Corey and Mason? They seem like romantic soulmates.”

“Yeah,” Liam said. “That’s the only case I’ve seen where I would consider believing in romantic soulmates.”

“So, it’s not impossible.”

“No, I suppose not. But I’m not gonna hold out for a romantic soulmate, or let a name on my wrist decide who I spend the rest of my life with. I’ll spent the rest of my life with the person _I_ choose.”

“That makes sense.” Theo sighed, sadness emanating from him. He really did want soulmates to mean something, didn’t he? It still surprised Liam. He’d have thought Theo would be the most cynical of them all.

Liam decided to ignore it and get back to the point. “So, what I’m getting from this is that you were just trying to protect me, like you usually do. But you’ve got a really shitty way of doing it. You should’ve spoken to me about Hayden first. I would have told you that the soulmate thing didn’t matter to me. Lydia’s vision, though, would’ve been enough to convince me that Hayden had to leave. I’d choose her survival over a relationship with her, easy. It would’ve saved me a lot of heartache, you know?”

“I’m sorry.”

Liam laughed. “Theo Raeken is actually apologizing? Well, I’ll be damned.”

“Can we call this a truce, then? I’m tired of fighting with you.”

“Truce,” Liam agreed. He turned to go, but then thought of one last thing. “Are you still living in your truck?”

“Not exactly. The hunters took me from it, and I don’t really know what they did with it…” Theo scratched his eyebrow.

“Where were you planning on staying tonight?”

“I was just gonna camp out in the woods.” Theo couldn't meet his eyes.

Liam raised his eyebrows. “You are one tough cookie. Come back to my place, okay? We’ve still got the guest room set up with your stuff. Though it might be collecting dust by now. No one has entered it since you left.”

“Sounds good to me,” Theo said, looking relieved.

“Yeah. But for the record I’m still mad at you. Do what you can to help the pack. That’s how you can earn back my trust, okay?”

Theo grinned, the corner of his lip curling up. “Piece of cake.”


	5. Chapter 5

Luck had finally turned around for Theo. Not only were he and Liam friends again, but he was back in his comfy bed in Liam’s guest room. Theo had even managed to track down his truck—thankfully the hunters hadn’t done anything to harm it. And now Liam had personally asked Theo for his help in a mission.

They were to create a diversion at the old, abandoned Hill Valley Zoo while Scott and the others broke into Gerard’s armory. Theo considered this a win, though he knew Liam was mostly letting him come because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to do it on his own. Fear was higher on all sides because of the anuk-ite. (It wasn’t like Liam had a lot of options anyways; Mason and Corey weren’t fighters and his friends Brett and Lori were dead. Who else could he have asked but Theo?)

After Mason called to confirm that Nolan was following him, Theo drove the truck to the zoo entrance and parked. Theo and Liam got out of the truck to meet Mason. Theo went straight to the trunk of the car to collect the decoy sleeping bags while Liam talked to Mason.

“Should I come with you guys?” Mason asked, sounding a little too eager to get in on the action.

“His friends shoot to kill.” Theo looked him up and down, biting back a comment. “Go home.”

Thankfully Mason didn’t argue.

Once Mason was driving away, Theo and Liam finished moving all the supplies into their fake den. It was just a decoy, to convince the hunters that Scott and his pack were camping out there. Nolan’s bright red car had been impossible to miss. He’d parked on the side of the road while they talked to Mason.

So far, the plan was going right. Nolan would summon the hunters; it was only a matter of time until they got there.

Liam led the way through the zoo up to a spot that gave them good cover and a view of the action below. Nolan was parked right in front of the zoo now. Could he be any more obvious?

Theo crouched close behind Liam, anxious for the action to begin. They were so close to each other. Theo could smell Liam’s soap from the night before. It smelled good, made him want to get even closer to Liam. To do something stupid again, like nuzzle his face in his neck or mess with his hair.

But now wasn’t the time or the place. He needed to focus on the mission. He wondered if Liam had picked this place because of this vantage point or if it had been random.

Wheels against gravel sounded from below.

“It’s just Nolan and two other guys. This isn’t gonna work,” Liam said, turning to Theo as if he had all the answers. But as soon as their eyes met, Liam looked away, back down at the two hunters and Nolan.

“Where’s the backup?” Theo asked. “Shouldn’t there be, like, twenty of them?”

“I mean, they only saw us and they’re not going to believe Nolan.”

“Okay.” Theo was thinking in overtime. How could they convince the hunters that the whole group was up there? “Then they’ll have to believe us.”

Theo started yelling, acting as if he were talking to the members of Scott’s pack. Liam looked totally baffled. Man, sometimes he was so slow. He still wasn’t catching on. The hunters definitely weren’t going to believe one guy yelling to Scott’s pack. He needed to get Liam to make noise too. So, Theo punched him.

They stood up and eyed each other. Liam looked ready for a fight.

“You see that, Scott? Your little beta can’t even take a punch?” Theo yelled. If Liam didn’t catch on soon, Theo was going to murder him himself.

“Okay, I get it,” Liam said. Finally. “But did you actually have to punch me?”

Theo punched him again. They tussled back and forth for a while as Theo continued to taunt him.

Liam’s fists clenched and he looked ready to strike, but Theo got to him first, punching him in the face. Liam huffed and growled, looking genuinely angry.

Theo couldn’t help but grin in triumph.

Liam punched him in the face hard enough to break his nose. Theo howled in pain, moving his fingers to snap his nose back into place. His whole face burned with anger.

As the two circled each other, Theo could feel the cartilage reconnecting, the skin smoothing over, leaving only blood in its wake. He braced himself to get revenge, but Liam was already on him.

_Snap!_

“Fucking hell!” Theo hollered. He cradled his broken nose. His fingers trembled as he grabbed his nose, sticky with blood. He hesitated for a moment, mentally preparing himself for the pain, then snapped it back into place.

Theo shook his head. “You’re an asshole.” He kicked Liam in the stomach so he was bent over.

Liam snarled and growled at him.

Theo smirked. He could feel his nose healing again. Time to do some damage of his own. He slashed his claws across Liam’s stomach. Theo knew he shouldn’t be enjoying this, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off Liam. Did that make him a sadist—or perhaps a masochist for all the beatings he was taking? It seemed only fair that they both got some punches in.

“Are you done, or should we keep going?” Liam asked, clearly not enjoying the theatrics as much as Theo.

Theo checked on the hunters, then turned back to Liam. “I think they’re sold.”

Liam looked down at his stomach. “You ripped my T-shirt!”

 “Yeah, you broke my nose. Twice. It healed. You broke it again. Two times.”

Liam half-shrugged, then punched Theo in the nose. It hurt like a bitch. Theo crumpled to the ground and covered his nose.

“Three times!”

Scratch that. Liam was definitely enjoying this way too much.

Once Theo’s nose healed again, they headed up the stairs to get a better view of the hunters. They ran around for half an hour, waiting to see if more would arrive, but so far nothing. The good news was that the three below hadn’t entered the zoo yet, so that meant backup was likely on the way.

They met up in the middle of a staircase, behind a grate. It gave them a good view of the hunters without exposing their location.

“The hell we doing in this place anyway?” Theo asked.

“Because it's like Mykonos.”

“Like what?” Theo blinked. He didn’t know what the fuck Liam was talking about.

Liam explained that it was a Greek island with long, narrow streets that all met up with each other. It was designed so invaders would get lost in them.

Theo stared at him. So, Liam hadn’t picked this place at random. He had actually been thinking of strategy? This was…unexpected. Maybe they would have a good shot at making it out of here alive.

“What? I like history.”

“I’m impressed.” Theo felt like he’d fallen a little more in love with him. “That’s a great idea.”

“Yeah, only if the invaders decide to show up.”

Vehicles sounded outside.

“I think they just showed up,” Theo said.

Gerard stepped out of the first van, then Monroe was soon to follow, along with a couple dozen hunters. Success. They’d drawn all the important people away from the armory. Theo started to head away, but noticed that Liam wasn’t following.

“Come on, let’s go,” Theo said. “We’re supposed to be decoys, not target practice.” Theo watched a drop of sweat trickle down the back of Liam’s neck. Strange because it wasn’t that hot out, cool enough to wear long sleeves. “You still working on that anger?”

“I’m fine,” he said, not looking fine in the least. He was still staring at the metal slats of the window.

Everything clicked together in Theo’s mind. This was about Nolan. After the pack meeting in the animal clinic, Liam had updated him on the goings on at school, how this one boy Nolan had stolen his place as lacrosse captain and beat the crap out of him to try to expose him as a werewolf. To show _he_ was the enemy.

“Well, you can be angry at Nolan and stay alive. Come on.” Theo reached for his shoulder, but Liam yanked it away. “Fine. Get Caught.”

Theo stormed away, feeling rejected. He’d just been looking out for Liam. Why did he have to be so stubborn? Sure, he wanted revenge for what Nolan did. That made sense. But there was a line between planning for revenge and pursuing revenge blindly at the risk of doing something stupid. And Liam was about to do something really stupid, he could feel it.

Theo found a better vantage point to watch the hunters. He could see them giving Nolan a crossbow. Gerard and Monroe talked about how Nolan would likely die, but he’d hopefully take one of them with him. These words sparked Theo into motion. He wouldn’t let Nolan take Liam down. No way.

Theo became frustrated as the paths twisted and turned. He needed to find Liam now, before Nolan could get to him, but every route looked the same. Walls, cages, graffiti. When he tried to catch Liam’s scent, the smell of his own fear was too strong.

Theo listened, really listened. Leaves rustling. Hunters’ boots crunching on the ground. Then a low growl. There!

He followed the direction of the growl and sighed with relief when he saw Liam standing against a wall. He was focused on the space beyond, where Nolan lurked looking like a scared little puppy.

Theo came up behind Liam. He knew he didn’t need to say anything. Liam would have heard his approach. “Liam, we need to worry about the other hunters,” he whispered. “Stop obsessing over Nolan.”

Liam didn’t say a word to acknowledge him. His focus was laser-sharp on the boy who’d beaten him up. Theo didn’t understand it. He himself had just beaten Liam up, but Liam wasn’t angry at him. All of it was directed at Nolan. What the fuck was so special about him?

Theo grabbed Liam’s arm and pulled him back. “If you keep looking, he’s going to see you. Get back.” Theo looked Liam up and down, lingering for a moment too long on his lips. Now was not the time to be thinking about kissing. But the fixation Liam had for Nolan stirred feelings of jealousy in Theo’s stomach. He wondered if Liam could smell it on him. Probably not. He was too focused on Nolan. Fucking Nolan.

Liam glared, then turned back to Nolan, looking just as obsessed and vengeful as before. Sweat soaked his shirt, trickling in the grove behind his ear and the back of his neck. It smelled salty, vengeful, like an anger that couldn’t be contained.

Theo grabbed Liam’s arm and forced him to face him. “I’m not dying out here because you want payback against some kid who kicked your ass, okay?”

Liam turned back to Nolan again.

This wasn’t going to work. He needed to get Liam away from Nolan. He grabbed Liam’s arm and pulled him into another section of the zoo. Liam protested, ignoring Theo’s attempts to snap him out of his trance. His eyes glowed yellow. A threat if Theo ever saw one.

“What’s going on with you?” Theo asked, realizing this was much bigger than revenge. “This can’t just be Nolan. Something around here is triggering you.”

“I’m fine,” Liam said between clenched teeth. Clearly a lie.

“What is it? The hunters? You don’t like cages? Scared of heights?” Theo tried to think of anything Liam had confided in him. Hunters had only become a problem for him recently. And Liam hadn’t seemed to have an issue when they stood at their vantage point, even while they watched Nolan below. It didn’t start until they watched from behind the metal slats by the stairs. Cages. That must be what triggered him.

“I said I’m fine,” Liam yelled.

“They’re up here!” Nolan called from behind them.

Liam didn’t even hesitate. He turned to him and body slammed Nolan off the ledge.

Eyes wide, Theo froze in horror. He was afraid to look over the ledge, afraid to find a splatter of Liam on the ground. Seriously, he needed to calm down. Liam was a werewolf. He was strong. A drop like that wouldn’t kill him.

Theo took a deep breath and looked over the ledge. Liam lay on top of Nolan, unmoving. Nolan squirmed beneath him, slowly worming his way out from under him. He backed up, lifting his crossbow to aim it at Liam.

“Liam, Liam!” Theo called as he ran around trying to find the stairs. “Liam,” he tried again. He needed to wake the fuck up. “Liam!”

Theo finally found a path down the side. As he hurried down, he tried to focus his hearing, but all he could hear was Nolan’s shaky breaths. Theo worried that he’d missed the killing shot. That he was hearing Nolan freaking out because he’d just murdered Liam.

Then he heard Liam’s growls, and Theo breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t know what he’d do if Nolan killed Liam. He was his everything, his soulmate. Theo wouldn’t be able to breathe if Liam died. And he wouldn’t be able to fight back. His soulmark would burn, and he’d be rendered useless long enough for Nolan to take him out too. His life would end before it really began.

Finally, he heard Nolan speak. “She wants me to kill you.” The boy sounded on the verge of tears. “She’ll kill me if I don’t.”

A clatter sounded, and then the crash of a body against stone. Theo hurried. He caught sight of them. Liam had Nolan pressed against the wall and he was punching the wall beside his head repeatedly, making his knuckles bleed.

The rage and the scent of sweat clinging to the back of his neck was so strong that it was almost overwhelming. Theo could see that it was taking everything Liam had to direct his anger at the wall instead of Nolan. This place was doing something to him. The cages were triggering an uncontrollable anger in him. Theo knew that Liam had IED, but he’d never seen an episode as bad as this.

When Theo had been trying to take Scott’s pack, he’d done research on IED, intermittent explosive disorder. The person displayed outbursts of violence disproportionate to the situation. Theo had been counting on that when he’d manipulated Liam into going after Scott.

Months ago, Mason had threatened Theo when Liam wasn’t around. He told him about how bad Liam had felt after trying to kill Scott. He blamed Theo for it. Of course, it was Theo’s fault. At the time, he hadn’t felt bad about it. But now he realized the severity of the situation. Liam hadn’t succeeded in killing Scott, but if he had, he would never have forgiven himself.

People with IED usually felt relieved after they got the violence out of their system, but they would later feel remorse. If Liam killed Nolan, he’d never be the same again. Theo didn’t want him to have to go through that.

He knew Liam wouldn’t be able to hold back against Nolan for long. Stopping Liam would be the only way to save him.

Theo hit Liam in the back of the head, knocking him out cold. This place wasn’t good for him. They needed to get out as soon as possible.

The timid boy stared at him as if he were some angel sent from heaven.

“Run.” Theo tilted his head in a threat, reminding Nolan that he was no angel.

The boy took off.

Getting out of there was another nightmare in and of itself. Theo had to carry Liam bridal style since Liam wasn’t conscious enough to hold onto him. The pathways became more and more like an impossible maze. Fucking Mykonos. It was a wonder no hunters ran into them.

Theo listened closely, setting down Liam and throwing rocks at the cages on the other side whenever the hunters were getting too close. It took over an hour to find his way out of the zoo. Liam had woken up four times, muttering about Nolan and Brett and how he needed to fight back. Theo had knocked him out again and again until finally they reached the truck.

He put Liam into the passenger seat, buckled him in, and then climbed into the driver’s side and drove off into the setting sun.

Liam stirred after darkness had descended. He cradled his jaw, groaning in pain.

Theo smiled at him, just relieved to be out of there alive. Liam’s plan to use a maze had been a mistake, even if it had sounded good in theory. He wondered why the cages had upset Liam. Had he been trapped in one himself at some point in his life?

“I had to knock you out,” Theo admitted.

“How many times?”

Theo smirked. “Five.” Surely that was sufficient payback for Liam breaking his nose three times. Theo looked at Liam for a response, but the boy looked pensive.

Liam sighed. “I almost killed him, didn’t I?”

“Almost.” Theo paused. “But you broke your hands trying not to.” He was proud of Liam. Even with his IED, he’d managed to hold back. He didn’t so much care if Liam became a murderer, but he knew that Liam would care, and he didn’t want that kind of thing haunting Liam for the rest of his life. Dreams of Nolan ripping his heart out again and again…

Liam huffed. “I guess that’s something.”

“Next time you come up with a plan like this, pick a place that doesn’t trigger a murderous rage.”

“I didn’t know this was going to happen.”

“Whether you meant it or not, you picked the spot. You made the plan. You wanted me to help.” He said the last part softly, because it had meant something to him.

“If I needed your help for anything,” Liam said, “it would be so I’d get angry enough to kill you myself.”

Theo could tell it was just empty words at this point. It was funny how Liam thought Theo would have let him go through this plan alone. He cared about him, and he knew that Liam cared about him too, even if he said the opposite. He didn’t want Theo dead anymore. Ever since they had made up in the animal clinic, things had been good again, and the way they’d worked together today, it felt like they were closer than ever before.

“You brought me here because that thing that came out of the Wild Hunt is affecting you too. And you need to figure this out before you completely lose it.” He knew he couldn’t always be there to stop Liam whenever he had an explosive episode. Liam had to figure out how to control it. Whether that meant a counselor, medicine, or just practice, he needed to find a way.

“The anuk-ite causes fear; it doesn’t cause anger.”

“People only feel one emotion at a time. Which is why you get angry when you’re afraid.” Theo briefly wondered if that was why Liam had gotten so angry at him when he learned Theo had sent Hayden away. He was afraid that Theo was a monster, afraid that he’d fallen into another trap. Caged by his decision to trust Theo. “It’s why you almost tore Nolan’s head off.”

“If the anuk-ite can do this to me, what do you think it’s doing to everyone else?”

Theo sighed. “Well, Malia definitely seems more on edge than usual. I haven’t seen her this ready to kill since she wanted to kill her mom. And Scott is more determined than I’ve ever seen him before. Strange as it sounds, I think the anuk-ite is helping him focus on being a leader. Lydia seems the same as usual, but then again, she’s used to being afraid. Corey seems more timid than normal. And Mason, well, he definitely seems bothered and afraid, but he’s still willing to help. Eager to help, actually.”

“Why do you sound surprised?” Liam asked.

Theo didn’t want to explain this, but he decided to be honest this time. Besides, Liam was so stubborn that he would never take “never mind” for an answer. “Well, we’ve seen so many ordinary humans turn on the supernatural. Monroe. Nolan. That other guy who beat you up.”

“Gabe.”

“Yeah, Gabe. Honestly, my biggest worry with Mason is that he’ll turn on us, just like them. You can’t tell me you’re not worried about that too.”

“Mason would never do that,” Liam said.

“Did you ever think Nolan or Gabe would?”

“No,” Liam mumbled. “But I know Mason really well. We’ve been friends since we were kids. He won’t turn on us. No matter what. We can count on him.”

Theo nodded. “I think so too. It’ll be dangerous if we start doubting each other. Which is why you need to believe in me a little more. I’m trying to help you now. I’m done with wanting to kill everyone or take over the pack, okay?”

“I’m trying. It’s just—you did some really bad things. I can’t just forget about it all.”

“It didn’t seem to bother you so much before. This summer you didn’t bring up killing me until the Hayden thing.”

Liam shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I did like having you around. Mason hasn’t come over as much since he started dating Corey, so it was good to have someone to hang out with this summer. And even when Hayden was there, she only wanted to kiss and stuff, not play video games or make smoothies or, like, actually watch movies.”

Theo chuckled. “We can do that when we get back to the house.”

“Thank goodness. I think I need something relaxing after this hell of a day.”

Theo snorted. “If you think today was hell, you have no idea.”

“Are you ever going to tell me what it was like to be in that underground hell?” Liam asked.

Theo was silent for a long time. “Not today, but maybe one day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this chapter took longer than planned. I ended up rewriting it twice before I was happy with it. Out of all the chapters, this one follows most closely what happens in canon. I wanted to show how what we see in the show connects to Theo's thoughts and perception of Liam since I know many people were confused by these scenes. It's also a major step to repairing their friendship, where Theo definitely proves that he cares about Liam.
> 
> Next chapter will follow what happens once they get to Liam's house after their zoo ordeal.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some mild sexual content. If that makes you uncomfortable, I'll provide you with the lines before it starts and after it ends. In the end notes, I'll do a quick recap of what happened in between.
> 
> Starts: The belt slid out with a solid yank, and then he tossed it onto the floor.  
> Ends: But he turned the water back to cold and forced himself to calm down.

On the way back to the house, Liam wondered what Theo’s underground hell had been like. Was it anything like the hallucination he’d had in the zoo?

It had been a memory of Brett and his old teammates. They had taken him to the zoo after he’d played poorly in a game and pelted him with lacrosse balls. Liam felt ashamed for having thought of that memory. With his friend dead, it felt cruel to remember the times when he’d hated Brett. It wasn’t just the location that had triggered his rage though. It was grief.

He remembered how strong Brett had been then. He was the team captain. Everyone looked up to him, and even though Liam tried his hardest, he’d always felt like the dirt beneath his feet.

Eventually, after becoming friends with Brett, he thought that feeling would fade away. He was a badass werewolf now, for crying out loud. But that pain, that feeling of not being enough, of never comparing ate away at him.

It wasn’t just the pain of loss. It was more like survivor’s guilt. How had Brett, the strongest team captain and werewolf of Satomi’s pack, been killed? But Liam, fairly new to the supernatural world and struggling to control his anger, was still alive. Not only that, but he’d been right there when it happened. If he had moved faster, or realized it was a trap sooner, he could have saved Brett and Lori.

The guilt devoured him inside out. And he was still filled with shock and disbelief. Brett’s death didn’t feel real. Someone as strong as Brett shouldn’t have been the first of his friends to die. He’d always expected Mason or Corey to be the first. They were smart and resourceful, but they weren’t as strong as the rest of the pack. That fear of losing them, especially Mason, haunted him day after day.

This war could cost him not just Mason and Corey, but the rest of his friends as well. Even though he was afraid to face the hunters, he’d rather die fighting with his friends, then survive alone.

He needed to get this anger under control. He needed to be stronger, smarter, faster. More. More. More. He had to be good enough to fight, good enough to save his friends.

He needed to stop acting like Brett was at a level he could never reach. It was holding him back. Atelophobia. The fear of not being good enough. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Liam would only continue to fail if he couldn’t overcome it. And he needed to overcome it. For himself. For his family. For his friends.

Theo would never understand how he felt. He’d never cared about anyone in his life. Liam wondered if he was capable of caring.

Of course Theo cared, he realized. Someone who didn’t care wouldn’t come on a dangerous mission with him. They wouldn’t stop him from killing Nolan. And they sure as hell wouldn’t risk their life to carry an unconscious Liam out of a zoo full of hunters.

Whether Theo knew how to put that care into words or not, he sure knew how to show it with his actions. Even sending Hayden away showed he cared. The Theo of the past was long gone. This Theo was changing, learning, and becoming more human every day.

That underground hell must have been something terrible to make Theo do a one-eighty like that. Or maybe, it wasn’t the underground hell at all. Maybe Theo changed because Liam gave him a chance to help, to work with the pack. Maybe all that boy wanted was to connect with another person since he’d never had anyone to care about before then.

Or maybe this was all Liam’s wishful thinking, his naïve desire to see the best in people. Brett had changed, so why couldn’t Theo?

“You okay?” Theo asked.

Liam snapped out of his thoughts and shot Theo a glare. “I’m fine. Just thinking about food. Let’s warm up the leftover pizza when we get home.”

Theo smiled. It was almost a smirk, but it seemed more genuine, like something Liam said had caught him off guard.

“What is it?” Liam asked.

Theo fought to bite back the smile, but he was failing miserably. “Nothing. Pizza sounds great.”

\---

Theo felt like an idiot for smiling at the word _home._ He knew Liam meant “my home,” not “our home.” It wasn’t something to get excited over. And yet, he couldn’t contain his glee. Liam had always referred to it as “the house,” even when Theo had been living there regularly. As if it was just a place they both happened to live. But the word _home_ made it feel like it was their place, a place they shared.

Home was welcoming. Home meant Theo belonged. And all his life, Theo had wanted a place to call home. A place where he wouldn’t be alone.

Liam was his home.

Once inside the house, they warmed up pizza and Theo made them smoothies as a reward for their hard work. Really it was to help Liam calm down. Desserts always made Liam more cheerful and less angry. He still seemed on edge from the whole ordeal.

They sat in Liam’s room drinking the smoothies while they watched a movie on the TV. Theo wasn’t paying attention to the screen though. He was leaning against the headboard, his arm spread across it, watching Liam. Admiring him.

His strong jawline. His slicked back hair. It was darker now than it used to be, but he liked it that way. Handsome. Attractive. Alluring. Theo just wanted to drink him in.

Liam finished his smoothie and set it on the bedside table beside his plate of pizza crusts, then positioned himself against the headrest. It surprised Theo that Liam had purposefully moved closer to him. But his eyes were still fixed on the TV screen, as if he wasn’t aware that mere inches separated them.

Theo’s heart was beating so fast. He knew Liam had to hear it, had to know that Theo wanted him. He wanted him so bad. It had been difficult to resist the urge to comfort him on the way back. He’d wanted to park the truck on the side of the road and show him that he cared about him.

But he knew Liam hadn’t been in the right emotional state to handle that, so he’d held back. And now Liam had calmed down. His heart was thumping normally. No waves of anger or fear, just a serene wave of comfort.

Theo didn’t want to ruin Liam’s good mood. It would be cruel to make him angry again after he’d spent all day in a murderous rage. But still, he was tempted to make a move. They’d kissed before. The ice was broken. This should be nothing, right? Liam would be comforted by it, maybe?

Theo let out a quick huff. Why was this so damn hard? Speaking of hard, Theo was so damn hard. Fuck.

He leaned closer and closer until he was practically breathing in Liam’s ear. He waited for Liam to push him away, but he didn’t. Liam turned to Theo and kissed him, then Theo laced his fingers through Liam’s hair and kissed him back.

Their kisses became frantic. Liam pulled him closer and wrapped his legs around his waist so he was in Theo’s lap. He tugged at Theo’s hair as he kissed his forehead, his cheek, his ear. Fuck. This was good. Fucking hell.

A moan escaped Theo’s lips. He knew he should’ve been embarrassed, but all he could think about was how he wanted more. A taste wasn’t enough. He wanted everything. Now.

He pulled off Liam’s shirt, gaze lingering for a moment on the black soulmark across Liam’s wrist, then Liam scrambled to help him out of his shirt. They pressed their bodies against each other, skin so warm and welcoming. It was as if their bodies were meant to meld together. _This is what home feels like…_

He brushed his fingers along Liam’s back, then pulled him even closer and ran his tongue down Liam’s neck.

This time, the moan was Liam’s.

Theo pushed Liam down onto the bed, kissing at his lips and propping himself up with one arm, while he used the other to fumble for Liam’s belt buckle. It was tricky undoing a belt with one hand, but he managed it. The belt slid out with a solid yank, and then he tossed it onto the floor.

His hand was in Liam’s pants a moment later, and Liam wasn’t protesting this time. He moaned when Theo’s fingers brushed against his cock. Warm, and slightly wet at the tip.

Theo felt his own pants tighten.

Thankfully Liam was quick to rescue him. He unfastened the button at Theo’s waist and slid his fingers down into his pants. He gripped Theo’s cock, squeezing gently.

“Fucking hell,” Theo breathed out. He could get used to this. “Pull your pants down,” he whispered. He released Liam and kneeled on the bed so he could pull his own pants and boxers down to his knees.

Liam shimmied his pants down, then froze, staring at Theo’s cock **.** “Oh my god.”

“What?” Theo smirked. “Not used to them this big?”

Liam snorted, but he was smiling. “I’ve just never seen one _hard_ that wasn’t my own.”

“Don’t you watch porn?”

Liam shrugged. “Sometimes, but I’m more into reading porn. Like fanfiction.”

Theo laughed. Liam was so adorable. He could stare at him all night, but right now, it was a bit harder to stay still. “Come on. Let’s write a story together.”

Theo dived back down into a kiss, grabbing at Liam’s cock, stroking it up and down. Liam was quick to follow suit; his fingers felt amazing on Theo’s skin. He wanted them inside of him, but he knew it was too soon to ask him for that.

“Kiss me,” Liam breathed.

Theo’s mouth was on his in a heartbeat. Desperate, fleeting kisses. Sweet, delicious tastes of a treat he never thought he’d get to indulge in. Weeks of agony, of being apart, and now they didn’t need to be. They could be together. They could be intimate. They could—fucking hell!

Theo looked down, stunned at what he’d done. White stuff splattered all across Liam’s chest. He’d come too quickly. Fuck. Liam would laugh at him. Liam—

Liquid shot against Theo’s chest, then dripped down to join the mess on Liam.

Liam choked a laugh. “That was like a volcano.”

Theo reached for the Kleenex box on the nightstand and started wiping away the mess on his chest. Liam grabbed some tissues to wipe up his chest too. Theo checked the sheets for any stray splatter, but they’d thankfully been spared that inconvenience.

“Um, I’m gonna take a shower,” Theo said, because he wasn’t really sure what was supposed to happen next—or if that was it.

As soon as he closed the door to Liam’s bathroom, reality caught up to him. They had just done _that_. They’d actually done something sex-related together in a bedroom, and Liam hadn’t asked him to stop or told him that he was too straight to do anything with him. He’d been just as hard as Theo.

That meant something. That definitely meant something. But would Liam want them to be something… together?

Theo wanted it so badly, but wanting it wouldn’t influence Liam’s mind. Liam had to want it too.

Theo turned on the shower and stepped under the stream of water, not minding the cold. It warmed up quickly though, and he was soon having flashbacks to their intimate moment. He grabbed his own dick and resumed the motion, images pouring through his mind. Liam turning his head to kiss him first. Liam moaning. Liam looking at him like he wanted Theo and no one else. Liam’s fingers digging through his hair. His skin. That warm touch. Each delicate stroke.

Theo was warm and wet and aroused, and even after he finished, he wanted more.

But he turned the water back to cold and forced himself to calm down. He didn’t want to overwhelm Liam. It was the first time he’d done anything sexual with a guy. He needed time to process that, time to figure out what it meant.

And Theo dearly hoped that it meant something, that it didn’t end in a “let’s be fuck buddies” or “let’s just go back to being friends.” Because he wanted so much more with Liam Dunbar. He wanted a boyfriend. A lover. A soulmate.

Liam knocked on the door. “Theo, can you come out?” His voice sounded weird. Wrong.

“Yeah, I’ll just be a second.” Theo switched off the water and quickly towel-dried himself. He wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped into Liam’s room. “What is it?”

Liam handed his cell phone to Theo. “Just read…” A tear escaped, and he hurriedly wiped it away.

The text was short, barely giving any details.

_Scott: My house gunned down. Heading to hospital. Malia, Argent, Me: ok. Mom, Dad, Lydia, Mason: not ok. Life-threatening injuries. Will update later._

Theo felt sick to his stomach. This couldn’t be real. Both he and Liam had been fighting hunters today. They should be the ones in the hospital, not everyone else. All because some idiot thought it would be a great idea to shoot up Scott’s house.

“I knew Mason seemed too eager to help earlier,” Theo muttered, wishing he could’ve done something to keep Mason out of harm’s way. He shouldn’t be helping them anymore. It was too dangerous. Mason was Liam’s best friend; they were like brothers. If Mason died, Liam might never recover from it.

“You know who did this, right?” Liam said, fists tightening at his sides. He looked ready to run out the door and track down the culprit.

“Liam, calm down.” Theo grabbed his shoulders to keep him from moving. “We can’t do anything about it tonight. Just take your shower and go to bed. We can handle this tomorrow, okay?”

Liam’s jaw was tight, the glare in his eyes not faltering for a second. He seemed just as rage-filled as he had been at the zoo. Like a rhino preparing to charge. “They’re gonna pay for what they did. I’m not going to let this go.”

“I know,” Theo said calmly. “But you need to slow down and think about this. You shouldn’t be running through the streets in the middle of the night, trying to find the gunman, when you don’t even have anything of theirs to track their scent. Look, take your shower. Calm down. I’ll keep an eye on your phone and let you know if there are any updates.”

Liam stared at him a long moment, his jaw twitching, fists still curled at his sides. Then he shoved past Theo and went into the bathroom for his shower.

Theo sighed in relief. He knew if Liam stormed out tonight, he’d just get himself killed. And that was one death Theo would never be able to recover from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. So, the guys have finally connected on a physical level. Theo's been dying for this kind of action since Chapter 2. But of course the war is making it impossible for them to actually talk about what happened. One (or two) more chapters to figure out what happens with these two. I hope you'll stick around for it!
> 
> Quick Recap if you skipped the middle section: Theo and Liam take off each other's clothes. Theo thinks it's adorable that Liam enjoys reading explicit fanfiction. Theo and Liam jerk each other off. Feeling awkward, Theo makes a quick escape to take a shower afterwards and masturbates in the shower. That's all you missed.


	7. Chapter 7

Theo slept with his door cracked so he could hear the creak of Liam’s door in the morning. All night he’d heard Liam tossing and turning in his bed. He’d offered to stay in the room with him, but Liam said he wanted to be alone. It was frustrating that Theo couldn’t comfort him, and he couldn't stop worrying about Mason. What if he died?

Faint sounds came from Liam’s room. Feet padding across the floor. Drawer sliding open. Liam wriggling into a pair of pants, sliding his feet into his shoes. But his door didn’t creak open. Instead, Theo heard the squeak of the window as it opened and closed. Liam was on the move.

Theo had slept with his clothes on so he could leave in a hurry. After slipping on his shoes, he threw open the window and clambered out onto the lawn. Liam’s scent was easy to track, but he wasn’t headed toward the school like Theo expected. Halfway there, Theo realized the destination: the hospital. Liam was going to check on Mason first, of course.

Glancing at his phone, Theo saw Scott had sent an update. Mason and Lydia were out of surgery; both were going to be okay. His mom was still in surgery though.

As Theo reached the hospital, he noticed a lot more police officers patrolling the area. He slipped in silently, acting as if he belonged there. He had to duck behind a tall nurse to avoid Sheriff Stilinski. Without bothering to ask where Mason’s room was, he headed to the elevator, following Liam’s scent—one he knew so well—to the room.

\---

Liam sat in a chair next to Mason’s bed, holding his hand tight. He couldn’t stop the tears and wasn’t even bothering to wipe them away. Mason had seen him much worse than this before.

“You almost died,” Liam said. His voice sounded hollow. This still didn’t feel real. Like he’d had a nightmare and he was still in it, like he could wake up at any moment and Mason wouldn’t be covered in bandages.

“Almost,” Mason said, his voice low and hoarse. “I think Scott’s mom has it the worst. Any word on her yet?”

“Sorry, no.” Liam bit his lip. His thoughts were racing too fast to keep up. He knew who did this. Not the weaselly Nolan—he’d barely been able to aim a crossbow. This was the work of the dangerous side of that duo. That explained why he hadn’t shown up at the zoo; he’d been plotting his own attack against Scott’s pack. Anger boiled through Liam until he felt as if he would burst. “Fucking Gabe…I'm gonna kill him,” he muttered.

“Liam, don’t do anything stupid,” Mason said. “He’s being controlled by Monroe. It’s not his fault.”

“How can you say that? He shot up a house, nearly killed four people. If he’d succeeded, that would make him a mass murderer. Look it up.”

“I hate him too, but you should wait for Scott. The pack is stronger together.”

“Oh, yeah? That didn’t make any difference last night! Even if I’d been there—” He stopped abruptly as he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out to read the message. It was from Malia. Scott’s mom was out of surgery. She was going to be okay.

“Scott's mom?” Mason asked.

Liam nodded. “Yeah, she’s okay.” Well, not okay. Not really. None of them were okay. But alive.

For a fleeting second Liam thought about Theo. They could have headed to Scott’s house last night, but Theo had been insistent that Liam practice some self-care, recover on his own before joining with the gang. And then Theo had comforted him more intimately. Liam felt so guilty—he’d experienced such pleasure while the others went through worlds of pain—and yet, he couldn’t help feeling relieved that Theo hadn’t been shot too. If they’d gone to Scott’s house, they could both be in hospital beds, maybe even dead…

No, no. He couldn’t just wait for Scott. Fuck that. Gabe could have killed all of them. He went there with the full intention to do that. Not okay. Not remotely okay. Forget the fact that Monroe manipulated him. She’d done the same to Nolan, but the most he’d done is beat up Liam and try to shoot him with a crossbow. When he faced him in the zoo, he could tell Nolan didn’t want to kill him. But Gabe…he wanted them all dead.

Liam couldn’t let that happen. Gabe had to be stopped before he attempted something like that again. He’d probably be at school now—after all, it would be suspicious to skip the day after you attempted mass murder. All he needed to do was find and drag him somewhere to deal with him alone…

\---

Sheriff Stilinski stopped Theo on the way out of the hospital, much to his annoyance. Theo had been so distracted following Liam's scent that he hadn’t even noticed him. He assured the sheriff that he’d just been checking on his friends, but Stilinski kept asking questions. At this rate, he'd never catch up to Liam in time.

“I’ve got to be somewhere,” Theo said and rushed out before Stilinski could stop him. He knew it made him look suspicious as hell, but he had much bigger things to worry about right now. What if Gabe had brought his gun to school?

Theo walked through the halls of the high school. He should have felt out of place, the memories of what he’d done in the past pressing on his mind, but his focus on Liam was strong enough to fight off the beasts. For a moment he thought he saw one of the Dread Doctors in the science classroom turning its head toward him, but he kept walking, forcing his thoughts back to Liam. Anyways, it was just a trick of his mind, the old fear creeping up again—damned side effect of the anuk-ite.

Theo found Liam attacking Gabe in the locker room. He had his face pressed to the glass mirror. Blood dripped across the shards of glass, the smell of sweat strong as Gabe’s fear increased. Theo waited for Liam to notice him.

When their eyes met, Theo recognized that same murderous spark in Liam’s eyes from when he’d gone after Nolan, except this time the spark had ignited. His eyes were on fire, and Gabe didn’t stand a chance.

Theo thought of how Liam had regretted almost killing Nolan. He knew he’d regret killing Gabe, no matter how angry he was. Even if Gabe had killed one of their friends, the murder of a fellow student would haunt Liam for sure, so Theo talked him out of it.

“Why are you always trying to save me?” Liam asked, but he knew the answer. By now he had to know why Theo was still around. But of course he used the Scott excuse again. Typical.

Theo didn’t feel like telling him the only reason he was interested in Scott’s pack was because Liam was in it.

\---

Liam couldn’t believe that he hadn’t killed Gabe. He’d been so angry—angrier than ever before, and still, Theo had managed to talk him out of it. He didn’t know why Theo had so much power over him. But he did like that Theo was looking out for him. He’d never admit that to Theo, of course; he’d never be able to live that down.

Gabe mentioned more bodies, so they followed him to check out the bodies in the science classroom’s freezer. They were killed by something else—the anuk-ite, perhaps.

So that became their next goal. Find the anuk-ite’s two halves. Prevent it from merging. Stop the war.

Somehow Liam managed to fuck it all up.

The anuk-ite merged. Lydia barely saved Liam from being turned to stone. And Mason apparently accused Theo of not caring about anyone. Liam knew it was the fear talking. Mason was the one who convinced him Theo did care about him after all. He’d seen how much Theo cared firsthand that night after the zoo. Unless he really was just after Liam for sex…

They hadn’t talked about that night yet. Too much had been happening on the prepare-for-war front. Right now, it was more important that they kept everyone alive, that they found some way to win this impossible war. Scott was convinced that defeating the anuk-ite would end the war, but Liam wasn’t so sure.

Fear could definitely cause people to do what they normally wouldn’t, but he knew some of these people had to be unchangeable. Monroe at the very least. But he could think of one weak link… Nolan.

Even though the kid pissed him off, Liam agreed to meet with him when he texted. He said he had something to show Liam at the hospital, so he followed him, hoping that he wasn’t walking into a trap. The promise of the opportunity to beat up Nolan in return certainly helped his decision.

\---

Theo was already on his way to help Liam when Scott called. He’d gone back to the house for supplies while Liam was at school, only to find out that Liam had left school to go to the hospital. Straight into the heart of danger.

“Just buy us more time,” Scott said. “Wherever Liam and the others are, get them out of there.”

Hearing Liam’s name made Theo’s heart skip a beat.

“Am I buying you time to come up with a plan or get help?” Theo asked.

“Both.”

He pressed the end call button. The crazy kid was going to take on the hunters alone. Or maybe Nolan was helping him. Not much help that scaredy cat would be though. Theo needed to hurry. He was speeding like crazy, barely able to think about anything but rescuing Liam. He hoped he wouldn’t be too late.

He still couldn’t believe that his life had come down to this. Before, he’d been a master of survival. He had managed to get of sticky situations easily, and he’d avoided things that he thought would kill him. But now, he was rushing straight into danger and he didn’t even care.

His fucking soulmate was all he could think about. The bracelet on his arm had slipped down slightly and he could see the top half of Liam’s name. Whether soulmates meant romantic or platonic or enemies—Theo didn’t care anymore. He only knew that he cared about Liam more than anyone else. He was trying his hardest to be worthy of him, to prove himself to the pack. To redeem himself.

He wasn’t proud of his past. He’d done terrible things and hadn’t even thought twice about them. That was what happened when you grew up surrounded by fear. He might have been the first successful chimera, but that didn’t mean the Dread Doctors treated him like a son. They were far from loving, frequently using threats to convince him to do terrible things. He hated feeling like he was being manipulated, so he made himself enjoy the killing. He got good at manipulating other people. After all, he’d learned from the best.

It was another reason why he hadn’t called Scott when the spider had crawled into his body. He’d grown up believing that there was no one for him. No one would take care of him. No one would back him up. It was wrong to ask for favors. It had been hard enough to ask the Dread Doctors for a pack, and even then, he’d had to do a lot of favors for them to get what he wanted. He’d manipulated Scott’s whole pack while simultaneously manipulating the Dread Doctors so that they would only see Scott as the threat.

He’d never trusted anyone in his entire life.

So this was all new to him.

But he had always wanted someone to care for him, someone he could trust. He’d wanted a pack. A group strong enough to make him stop feeling afraid all the time. He wanted that security in his life, because he’d never had it. He’d survived by sheer will, by learning how to use other people the same way the Dread Doctors used him.

But that nightmare was over.

He couldn’t let fear rule him any longer.

Theo put on his black beanie, a flimsy disguise, and barged into the hospital, focused entirely on Liam’s scent. He could smell what floor he was on, so he walked toward the elevator with purpose.

As the elevator went up, he kept hoping that he wasn’t too late. He smelled gun powder, and there were at least half a dozen beating hearts.

He heard Gabe’s voice coming closer as the elevator rose. “Go ahead, Liam. Run. It’ll be more fun that way.” Liam’s footsteps got louder and louder.

The elevator doors slid open. Theo grabbed Liam and protected him with his whole body, pushing him against the wall of the elevator, as the doors slid shut. Gunshots exploded around them, hitting the back wall and then the elevator doors. It took everything Theo had not to kiss Liam right there.

“What are you doing here?” Liam asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

Theo slid off his beanie, a little self conscious to be wearing it. “I was just asking myself the same thing.” He resisted the urge to fix his hair, definitely not a priority at the moment. More gunshots exploded against the door, then silence. Liam was bent over, listening intently.

“They still out there?” Theo asked.

Liam nodded.

“I’m not dying for you,” Theo said, because he didn’t want either of them to die. He wanted to live and be happy with Liam, and that wouldn’t work if one of them died.

“I’m not dying for you either,” Liam said. The right answer.

Theo’s gaze flicked to Liam’s lips. He remembered those lips. All over him. He wanted them again. But he couldn’t now, no matter how tempting it was; they had to get out of here alive.

“But I will fight with you,” Liam said after looking away awkwardly. He’d noticed him looking at his lips. Did Liam want that too?

It didn’t matter now. Theo sighed, the reality hitting him that this could be their last battle. “Okay. Let’s fight.”

And so, they fought. The trained men went down easy. The trouble was Gabe. One of his bullets got Theo in the shoulder, slowing him down. Liam went straight for Gabe, probably wishing he’d killed Gabe in the locker rooms, no matter how hard it would’ve been to cover up.

As they fought, Theo caught the sound of a radio. The guy was saying he couldn’t get a clear shot, and he heard Monroe telling the man to shoot them both. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nolan move to sneak up behind the guy, but he knew he’d be too slow. And Theo was in too much pain to run over there. He’d never make it in time.

The bullets sounded.

Nolan got the gunner over the head with a fire extinguisher.

Gabe fell.

Then Gabe dragged himself to the glass case against the wall, trailing blood behind him, and Theo could have sworn he was looking in a mirror.

He’d dreamed about that kind of end for himself. Nightmares of the Dread Doctors killing him still haunted him sometimes. And that was exactly what happened here. Monroe didn’t care at all about Gabe’s life. She corrupted him and used him as her toy. Taught him to love to kill. But he was disposable. The threats that kept him killing weren’t just empty words.

Theo knew the Dread Doctors hadn’t used empty words either. They’d shown their willingness to kill again and again.

Ignoring the pain, Theo stood and walked towards Gabe. He knew what it felt like to be in his position, to be alone, to isolate yourself because of someone else’s influence.

“It hurts, it hurts,” Gabe said.

Theo knew he couldn’t save him. It was too late for that. But there was one thing he could do. He hadn’t been able to do it the other day for Mason—he hadn’t cared enough. But somehow, he believed he could do it now. This connection, this sympathy with Gabe’s situation. He genuinely cared. So, he grabbed Gabe’s arm and took away his pain. The least he could do for this boy—the only thing he could do for this boy—was ease his suffering before he died.

“Does it hurt anymore?”

“No,” Gabe said.

“Good.”

And then Gabe was gone.

Corey, Mason, Melissa, and Nolan all left afterwards, but Liam stayed behind.

Theo turned to him. “We made it,” he said.

Liam stormed over to him, looking angry. He pulled Theo into a tight hug. “I can’t believe you did that. Theo, that was so selfless. Like, I don’t think I could have done that. How could you care about your enemy?”

Theo held Liam tightly, leaning his chin against his shoulder. “Gabe was just a victim. He didn’t know what he was doing.”

Liam grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hallway, opened a random door, then pressed him against the wall. “You’re the most wonderful person in the world,” he said. He kissed Theo, long and sweet, then fierce and gentle.

Theo’s heart soared with the words. He thought he had imagined them, thought this all had to be a dream. Liam couldn’t be kissing him, and he certainly couldn’t think that highly of him.

He closed his eyes as Liam’s lips traced against his jaw, his neck. Then a sound clicked, and a pressure released from his wrist. He opened his eyes.

Liam grabbed his arm and tried to turn his wrist.

“No, don’t,” Theo pleaded. If Liam saw the soulmark, he’d think Theo just wanted him because it read his name. All of this would be over. He tried to yank his arm back, but Liam was too strong.

He turned Theo’s arm and ran his fingers over his wrist. _L-I-A-M._

“I knew it,” Liam said.                                                                                                                

Theo winced, trying to prepare himself for the worst. Dread knotted his stomach.

Liam let go of him and walked over to the sink in the hospital room. He pulled rubbing alcohol out of the cabinet and dipped a cloth in it. He rubbed and rubbed at his wrist, then walked back over to Theo and held out his wrist.

It read: _T-H-E-O_

“I covered it a long time ago before the mark faded to reveal the name,” Liam said. “I didn’t know if it would say your name or not. But I’m glad it does.”

“You are?” Theo asked in surprise.

“Of course,” Liam said. “Even if it hadn’t said yours, I still would have chosen you. This”—he pointed to the soulmark—“just makes it easier to explain to Scott and the others.”

“So, you love me?”

Liam nodded. “It sounds silly, but I didn’t really realize it until after I kicked you out of my house. And even then, I wasn’t sure if I just missed you, or if it was a real feeling. I got scared, though, so I couldn’t text you back. And I was mad, of course, because of the Hayden thing. But this past week, especially, you’ve proven to me what I’ve known since the summer. I love you, Theo Raeken.”

Theo couldn’t breathe. This just didn’t happen to him. It was too good to be true. Liam in love with him. Liam’s soulmark with his name. Maybe they really were soulmates—or maybe the mark was just Theo’s excuse to get to know Liam. He wasn’t sure, and he didn’t really care. He had Liam and that was all that mattered.

“I’ve never been good at saying those kind of things,” Theo admitted. “But know that I feel the same way about you. Possibly more. I’ve known you were my soulmate since the ghost riders took you. And to be honest, that’s the main reason I sent Hayden away. I never saw her soulmark burn. I just knew that she couldn’t be your soulmate because I was yours. It was horribly selfish of me, and I’m sorry for that, but I hope you’ll forgive me.”

“Theo, I dare say I’ll forgive you for every little thing you’ve done. Except for beating me in _Call of Duty._ We need a rematch soon.”

Theo laughed. “Sure thing.”

Liam grabbed onto Theo’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go find the others. And for the record, I’m definitely bi too.”

“Good.” Theo grinned.

They walked out hand in hand.

When Liam heard the radio, he let go of Theo’s hand and rushed to pick it up and tell Monroe that she’d lost. Then they shared a quick victory kiss before walking out to join the others, his hand back in its rightful place, in Liam’s warm embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it. This is finally completed. I am sorry for the long wait. I really should have finished editing it back in November so I could post the whole thing then. No sex scene, but I would be willing to write an explicit one-shot sequel if enough people want it.
> 
> This story was my first take on the soulmate trope. I enjoy reading soulmate stories a lot, so it was fun to write one of my own. I also enjoyed incorporating my interpretation of events in the show. There's a lot of scenes that definitely hint at more between the two characters. (Namely how Theo is already driving on the way to the hospital to help Liam when Scott calls him. Also the fact that Liam and Theo don't head to Scott's house after the zoo scene.) My goal was to fill in some of the gaps and provide a possible insight into what their life could be like within the context of the story and with the addition of the soulmate trope. I hope you enjoyed this. I really appreciate all the comments and support I've gotten on this story. Thank you so much for reading!


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